It Is A Handsome, Long
Chamber, Lighted By Skylights From The Roof, And Is Amply Large
Enough For The Number To Be Accommodated.
The Speaker sits opposite
to the chief entrance, his desk being fixed against the opposite
wall.
He is thus brought nearer to the body of the men before him
than is the case with our Speaker. He sits at a marble table, and
the clerks below him are also accommodated with marble. Every
representative has his own arm-chair, and his own desk before it.
This may be done for a house consisting of about two hundred and
forty members, but could hardly be contrived with us. These desks
are arranged in a semicircular form, or in a broad horseshoe, and
every member as he sits faces the Speaker. A score or so of little
boys are always running about the floor ministering to the members'
wishes - carrying up petitions to the chair, bringing water to long-
winded legislators, delivering and carrying out letters, and running
with general messages. They do not seem to interrupt the course of
business, and yet they are the liveliest little boys I ever saw.
When a member claps his hands, indicating a desire for attendance,
three or four will jockey for the honor. On the whole, I thought
the little boys had a good time of it.
But not so the Speaker. It seemed to me that the amount of work
falling upon the Speaker's shoulders was cruelly heavy. His voice
was always ringing in my ears exactly as does the voice of the
croupier at a gambling-table, who goes on declaring and explaining
the results of the game, and who generally does so in sharp, loud,
ringing tones, from which all interest in the proceeding itself
seems to be excluded.
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